Sec. 71.002.  CAUSE OF ACTION.  (a)  An action for actual damages arising from an injury that causes an individual's death may be brought if liability exists under this section.
(b)  A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual's death if the injury was caused by the person's or his agent's or servant's wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default.
(c)  A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual's death if:
(1)  the person is a proprietor, owner, charterer, or hirer of an industrial or public utility plant or of a railroad, street railway, steamboat, stagecoach, or other vehicle for the transportation of goods or passengers;  and
(2)  the injury was caused by the person's or his agent's or servant's wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default.
(d)  A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual's death if:
(1)  the person is a receiver, trustee, or other person in charge of or in control of a railroad, street railway, steamboat, stagecoach, or other vehicle for the transportation of goods or passengers, of an industrial or public utility plant, or of other machinery;  and
(2)  the injury was caused by:
(A)  the person's wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default;
(B)  the person's servant's or agent's wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unfitness, unskillfulness, or default;  or
(C)  a bad or unsafe condition of the railroad, street railway, or other machinery under the person's control or operation.
(e)  A person is liable for damages arising from an injury that causes an individual's death if:
(1)  the person is a receiver, trustee, or other person in charge of or in control of a railroad, street railway, steamboat, stagecoach, or other vehicle for the transportation of goods or passengers, of an industrial or public utility plant, or of other machinery;  and
(2)  the action could have been brought against the owner of the railroad, street railway, or other machinery if he had been acting as operator.
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.